Worthy Of A Bit More Attention, I'd Say

Before resuming my previously-noted downtime, here's an interesting story from the weekend (HT: TPM):

Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.

The indictment said Alishtari tried to support terrorists between June and December by accepting an unspecified amount of money to transfer $152,000 that he believed was being sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan to support an Afghanistan terrorist training camp.

He believed the money would be used to fund the purchase of night vision goggles and other equipment, the indictment said.

CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.

Alishtari also claims to be a lifetime member of the National Republican Senate Committee's Inner Circle, which the NRCC describes as "an impressive cross-section of American society – community leaders, business executives, entrepreneurs, retirees, and sports and entertainment celebrities – all of whom hold a deep interest in our nation's prosperity and security."

Now check out this CV posted by someone with the same name (note: I have no idea if it's authentic or represents the same person) which notes a 2003 appointment to the "White House Business Advisory Committee."

Note the entrepreneurial business background with a focus on technology/security. Have any of those businesses ever received government contracts or funds? Any direct or indirect contact in the past with anyone from the Bush administration or Congress?


Update: Ah, what a tangled web. A reader notes in the comments section that "GlobalProtector.Net", one of the companies listed on this CV, claimed to have "provided a product demonstration for the United States SouthCom in Miami, Florida." Here's the news release. A few months later, according to another news release here, "Chief Executive Officer Mr. AT Alishtari authorized a new Boca Raton, Florida Office sales team of under a new Federal Sales EVP with web technical support from GlobalProtector.Net’s Chief Technical Group Director, Mr. Romel Roberts, to meet with the US Department of Defense covering web filter technology for various uses internally and those meetings were met favorably in general for the agenda set forth by the Department of Defense for those items."

Both of those news releases are from 2003 -- the same year this person says he was appointed to the "White House Business Advisory Committee" and became a "US National Republican Senate Inner Circle Member for Life."

Oh, and be sure to check out this news release, noting particularly the references to "anthrax patents" and "Homeland Security."

White House press corps, over to you....